About The Office of Cultural Affairs

The City of Dallas Office of Cultural Affairs (OCA), a division of the City Manager’s Office, fosters support, partnerships, and opportunities for Dallas citizens, visitors, artists, and arts and cultural organizations. The Director of Cultural Affairs, Jennifer Scripps, is responsible for the implementation of the City’s cultural policy and programs. The director reports to the Assistant City Manager for Neighborhood Quality of Life.

OCA’s Vision

An equitable, diverse and connected community, whose residents and visitors thrive through meaningful arts and cultural experiences in every neighborhood across Dallas.

OCA’s Mission

The Office of Cultural Affairs works to enhance the vitality of the city and the quality of life for all Dallas residents by creating an equitable environment wherein artists as well as arts and cultural organizations thrive; people of all ages enjoy opportunities for creative expression; and all celebrate our multicultural heritage.

Our mission is to support and grow a sustainable cultural ecosystem that ensures all residents and visitors have opportunities to experience arts and culture throughout the city.

Commitment to Cultural Equity

In Dallas, we envision a city of people whose success and well-being are not pre-determined by their race, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender, social status, zip code, or citizenship status. We recognize that artistic and cultural expression are fundamental to the development of our identity, as individuals and as a community at large. We assert the right for all people to have access to arts and cultural experiences throughout Dallas.

We recognize the historic legacies of racism, overt bias and injustice that shape our present reality. In fact, the City of Dallas’ arts funding originated to support organizations of the Western European canon, collectively referred to as “The Big Six.” Going forward, we will strive to support the broadest range of art forms and creative producers, considering inclusivity, diversity and neighborhood impact to direct resources equitably to artists and organizations. We will work to build a robust arts ecosystem that continually evolves to better reflect the diverse composition of Dallas. Towards this end, we recognize and affirm the potential of new and emerging artists and organizations.

The Office of Cultural Affairs will serve as convener and connector to catalyze equity in the policies and practices of its partners across the Dallas arts ecosystem. Core to this is leading other organizations and private resource providers to advance diversity, equity and inclusion in concrete, measurable ways. Annually, the Office of Cultural Affairs will summarize its own support for artists and arts organizations, highlighting measures of equity and diversity.

As we work together to create a more vibrant Dallas, the Office of Cultural Affairs is committed to nurturing the wide diversity of creative culture and experiences that make up this great city.